The thread for Portishead "Third"

I think Deej mentioned it upthread among a couple of others, but "The Rip" is not getting as much love as it should. A song of two perfect halves.

And how is it only Dan has specifically pointed out the brilliance of "Plastic!" Those drums, people!

Alba said this some time back:

I wish I could think what the melody of the Magic Doors reminds me of.

I have to agree -- it's calling to mind *something* but I don't know what.

Fucking awesome, awesome, awesome. Blows their 90s stuff out of the water, and their 90s stuff was real good. I love how free they feel to take the songs in any direction at any time--they treat changing the arrangement or the specific sound of a part the way most bands treat changing chords or going to a bridge or new section. The whole thing is so structurally fucked but not a way that seems random or annoying. Basically it's one of the most liberated albums I've ever heard; like they have no idea that it's going to be heard by anybody other than them.

I miss the brass and string sections of "All Mine"

i listened to the s/t record a few days ago and my GOD what a fantastic song, i get chills just thinking about the brass going nuts with beth doing her "all miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine" part

I really like the transition from "Nylon Smile" into "The Rip"...sooo good. Those two songs meld very well. This album is incredible.

I could have sworn I raved about "The Rip" upthread, but I guess I didn't. It's the standout favorite for me. The looooooooong held vocal note is so great, and I love the simple, imperfect drums. The song is only about 4 1/2 minutes but it feels like it's 2.

I heard "Machine Gun" on the radio today - or at least the last part of it. It sure didn't sound like it came out in 2008. More like a much longer time ago. I was impressed.

Album of the decade.

that's a bit of a stretch

Not for me it isn't. It's fucking great. Beyond great.

I miss the brass and string sections of "All Mine"
Listen to: "La Belle Histoire D'Amour" by Edith Piaf :)

Even the first time I listened to Third, I got the same kind of whole-body chill I got the first time I listened to The Avalanches' Since I Left You and Life Without Buildings' Any Other City...and those remain #1 and #2 on my albums-of-the-decade mental list. I don't think including it in any kind of decade-centric ranking is a stretch at all.

oh i'd put it in my top 25 or so, just not the best of the decade. yet.

can i link to Ned's blog post, by the way? i mean, it's about the album, somewhat:
http://nedraggett.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/thoughts-on-listening-to-third/

Ned and I share a brain:

I don't see anything bumping Portishead out of #1 for me, but I kind of hope something great enough comes along out of nowhere and does. That, whatever it will be, is something I can't wait to hear.

-- Johnny Fever, Friday, April 11, 2008 2:45 AM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Link

Hurrah shared brains! Or something like that.

I had it on last night at a get-together of friends at the apartment just to see how it functions as background music -- we were all out on the balcony so the sound was intentionally muffled. (And everyone there had already heard the album or most of it.) Result: almost sounds even more ominous!

(And everyone there had already heard the album or most of it.)

I'd be more interested to see the reactions of those who hadn't yet heard it.

New favorite moment: the overlapping organ lines on "Small."

omg the sax solo on "Magic Doors"

Dan gives the impression that he's shut the door to his corner office and not moved all weekend, the record on endless loop.

yeah this hasnt failed to get better with each listen for me either, tho on my most recent listen it was nothing any more subtle than silence displacing the rip as my favorite track

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/03/13/robot1_wideweb__430x307.jpg

I saw a savior,
A savior come my way
I thought I'd see in
The cold light of day
But now I realize
That I'm only for me

If only i could see, return myself to me,
And recognize the poison in my heart
There is no other place, no one else i face
The remedy will break with how i feel

Here am I reflecting
What more can I say
For I am guilty
For the voice that I have made
Too scared to sacrifice a choice
Chosen for me

If only I could see
Return myself to me
And recognize the poison in my heart
There is no other place
No one else I face
The remedy will agree with how i feel

That's a sax solo? It sounds like a horse being sucked into a black hole, backwards.

^^ Best description of that sound.

I think the transition from Deep Water into Machine Gun is my favorite thing on the record, and one of the great triumphs of album sequencing.

It sounds like a horse being sucked into a black hole, backwards.

Amazing

It sounds like a horse being sucked into a black hole, backwards.

Another good one I read in a review:

The mating call of a brontosaurus crossed with a velociraptor coughing up a furball

Surpasses my own attempt:

Intergalactic humpback whales, humping.

Um, or you could just say it sounds like a processed saxophone.

or you could just say it sounds like a processed saxophone.

Quite

i say

So I sez to the band I sez

I am with Ned re the drums on "Plastic". They jumped out at me the moment I heard it (from another room no less). And I love the way "Silence" just... stops suddenly.

I was never a Portishead fan but this album is groundbreaking and I don't like using superlatives often.

"Silence" is by far my favorite track on this

<i>I was never a Portishead fan but this album is groundbreaking</i>

^^^me too.

Third is amazing, and it will likely be album of the year, but it basically sounds like Broadcast under a heavy dosage of despair. All that Can, Silver Apples, Jean-Claude Vannier type shit happening.. Again, I love love love Third, guys, but this type of album isn't totally unprecedented.

What he said -- it's an excellent fusion of both familiar touchstones and slightly more obscure ones while at the same time putting a very specific stamp on it that's clearly them while further not simply sounding like 'Portishead' much at all. First time that even suggests itself to me clearly is three songs from the end! Which is very much to their credit.

finally got it
listened through twice
some immediate standouts ('hunter', 'we carry on'), and plenty of growing potential for sure. i'm actually pretty excited about what i can get out of this record in the long run.
more varied and ambitious than the first two, but it would be naive to expect a retread after so many years.

Ah, I perhaps shouldn't have used groundbreaking to so heavily imply they're doing something completely left-field and new (well, except in relation to themselves, I guess). Broadcast comparisons also noted by my bf when he first gave it a spin. I should give them more of a listen too.

Album is better than Broadcast, but I can see the comparison.

i still dunno bout that, i reaaaaaaallly love me some broadcast.

portishead = thunderstorm
broadcast = lighter scattered showers, sunny spells

err... Joy Division = persistent sleet

Rotterdam termination source - canapes

this album is so not as "dark" as all the early talking point blog bullshit made it seem...the sounds may be real ominous and kind of scary or bleak but I'm not exactly crying into my iced coffee...listening now and I'm more like balling my fists and scowling at people and trying not to smash things...

this album is genius.

maybe that makes me "dark" but fuck it

"We Carry On" and "Small" are just so exciting to me...it's kind of like metal but the riffs are played on a keyboard and the guitar just kind of drifts in and out with those awesome stabbing noises and the drums and bass are all stripped and no-frills...so great!

So "Magic Doors" should totally be a single, y/n

i think 'The Rip' is next up - there's a video at least

I don't think they're playing Magic Doors live, so it's probably not on the cards.

Also, the video for The Rip is great.